Rye Castle Museum

  HIghlights 2008-2009

March 2008: The Museum opened for a new season, with a special opening at the Ypres Tower celebrating the opening of the
Tower after repair work.

Coffee Mornings: Once a month the Museum holds a Coffee Morning organised by the Muses. During the winter months it is held at East Street, while in the summer months it is held in the beautiful garden of Rae Festing.  Througout the year there is a range of cakes stalls, books stalls, bottle tombolas and much more. The Museum would like to thank Rae Festing for continuing to host the summer coffee mornings.

April 2008: New Curator!
Claire Eden became the new Curator of Rye Castle Museum

August 2008:Children’s Holiday Activity Afternoons
The Museum launched it’s holdiay Children’s Activity Afternoons every Wednesday afternoon in August. The afternoons were a huge success and everybody taking part had lots of fun!

August Bank Holiday 2008: Bygone Summers
On the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday the Museum held a huge summer fundraising event based around the idea of traditional summer holidays. There was traditional Punch & Judy performances, tombola, facepainting, arts and crafts activties, childrens games, a silent auction and an Art Display and sale. It was a great day and raised an amazing £1,600.
The Museum would like to thank all the local businesses and organisations who got involved and donated prizes and funds for the day.

September 2008: New Chairman!!
Jo Kirkham became the new Chairman of Rye Museum Association after Allan Downend decided to retire from the postion. The Museum sends a big thank you to Allan for all his work over the years as both Chairman and Curator.

October Half Term: Tudor Discovery Day!!
The Museum was honoured with a visit from Queen Elizabeth I and her ladies in waiting. She met with visitors and visited both the Tower and East Street. In the afternoon she held an audience with, discussing her life and her famous visit to Rye which led to her naming the town, Rye Royal. There was also arty activities and an opportunity to dress up in historic costume.

October Half Term: Children’s Activity Afternoon!
The Museum held another successful Wednesday Children’s Activity Afternoon

End of October 2008: East Street closed at the end of the season, while the Tower was open at weekends only.

 November 2008: Christmas Craft Fair!
The Museum held a Christmas Craft Fair organised by the Muses. There were a wide range of superb crafts on display as well as many wonderful things to buy for Christmas presents! Thanks to everyone who help organise the event, the stall holders and the customers.

December 2008: Festive Victorian Evening at East Street, Christmas Grotto and Yuletide at the Ypres Tower!
The Museum held a whole host of Christmas events in December. First there was the fantastic Festive Victorian Evening , which included performances by the Hollington Mummers and the Rye Shakespeare Company. A big thank you to all the performers who gave their time for free to help raise funds for the Museum. There was also mulled wine, mince pies and other delicious food provided by the Museum volunteers.

Then there was the Christmas Grotto! This was a free event where children got a chance to come and have a chat to Father Christmas about what they hoped would be under their Christmas Trees on Christmas Day. Each child received a gift. There was also face painting, and hot drinks and mince pies.

Finally the weekend before Christmas the Museum hosted Yuletide in the Ypres Tower, where there was an opportunity to relax and socialise with food and drink.
A big thank you to everybody who helped make these events a success, including the Rye Christmas Festival committee, Peter Cosstick, the Museum’s hardworking volunteers and staff, the Hollington Mummers, Rye Shakespeare Company,  and Ann Bourner and Jeff Eden for the fantastic Victorian and Medieval decorations.

January 2009: New Years Party!
The Museum held it’s annual New Years Party for the members of the Rye Museum Association. There was food and drink, as well as a raffle. However the highlight of the evening was the wonderful performance from Rye Shakespeare Company.
Once again a huge thank you to Rye Shakespeare Company and all the volunteers who helped make the night happen.

January 2009 – March 2009: New Exhibitions!
While the Museum was closed, behind the scenes things were still extremely busy with preparations for the new season being made as well as new exhibitions being installed such as the new historical documents and seals exhibition and necessary conservation work.